Living in Paradise: Making Memories
by BellaNessieCullen
Summary: A collection of one-shots and short stories based after Living in Paradise. Some run parallel to Forever Legends but most are based between Living in Paradise and Forever Legends. The stories follow Elizabeth, Lexi, Izellah and Allesandra Cullen. The stories are not in chronological order.
1. Adventures in London

**A Sequel One-Shot to Living in Paradise. Elizabeth and Alexandra were raised on a remote island with Izellah as sisters. Now they're all grown up and exploring the world for the first time. One of them is finding love, the other adjusts to life as an immortal and they even find a famous face along the way but what about Eliza? What will she take home after their travels are over?**

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**Please read Living in Paradise before reading this story! It will explain who all the character are.**

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**Elizabeth Cullen**

The waves lapped at my feet, I could feel the sand move between my toes as the water carried it away and for a moment I was back home, back on Isle Isabella and I was a toddler again, feeling the sand and water beneath my toes for the first time.

"Eliza!" my sister called, knocking me out of the trance I was in. I opened my eyes and wrapped my scarf back around me giggling when Lexi collided with me in a hug. We weren't on the hot sandy beaches of Isle Isabella where we grew up; we were on the cold, wet, rainy beaches of England. We were travelling the world. We had been to the extreme hot and the extreme cold and now we were in England. There was so much history here that I made sure it was on our bucket list. We had been in London for a week now and were supposed to leave tomorrow but I knew that wasn't going to happen. Not now. "What were you thinking about?" Lexi asked.

"Where is Ella?" I frowned looking around. She was supposed to meet us here around ten minutes ago.

"Where do you think?" Lexi asked with a laugh.

"She's going to get in so much trouble with our family," I laughed with her.

"Well you can't say she wasn't destined for it," Lexi laughed as she pulled out a bottle of blood. I snatched it off her and drank some myself.

"Hey," she laughed and pulled it straight back off me.

"Just because she was named after a princess doesn't mean she can let herself become queen. I think England will start to notice if she doesn't age," I laughed. Since arriving in London over a week ago, my biological great-niece Izellah had found her way into the arms of the Prince. I didn't think of her as my great-niece though, she was my sister just as much as Lexi was. My parents had me much later in their life time than my siblings, my siblings Renesmee and Eddie had already had their children years before I was even born. Renesmee's daughter, Sarah didn't have children when she first married her husband Nahuel, she waited to have children and it just happened to coincide with when my parents decided to have me on Isle Isabella. Izellah was born a few months after me and didn't live far at all. She came to the island a week out of the month to spend time with her grandmother, and my sister, Renesmee. Lexi was adopted just before hand and we were inseparable as children and still inseparable now. I couldn't imagine my life without Ella and Lexi. They were everything to me.

"She can just fake her death. I think it's the most romantic love story ever!" Lexi grinned at me. I rolled my eyes as I watched her drink the blood, my throat was burning because of it.

"Let's go hunting," I groaned.

"I'm fine," she grinned.

"Let's go!" I said again with a laugh and grabbed her hand. She grunted as I pulled her towards the shore line. I was stronger than her, despite her being a vampire, being a moon pool child had its advantages, I had been physically eighteen for ten years now. Lexi had only just been changed little under a year ago and still had some trouble controlling her thirst but Ella and I helped her as much as we could. I tugged her more and it caused her feet to fall under the sand and she fell, we both laughed.

"You're worse than mom. Get up," I laughed.

"Mom isn't clumsy."

"She was when she was human." I told my sister as we headed for the car. "Let's go find our niece too."

"She's with the prince I told you."

"Well she needs to hunt," I said as we reached it, the one thing about where we were in England was there weren't many forests so we couldn't get away with running back to London, we were in Southend almost an hour away from London. I had been missing the feeling of sand beneath my feet so Lexi and I decided to make a trip here. Ella had been MIA for over a day, which wasn't unusual for her. She did it all the time in the cities we stayed at, she appeared after a while. We had arranged to go to the beach three days ago so I was expecting her to show up but since she didn't I thought we would crash her party.

"They won't let us in the castle," Lexi reminded me as I started driving us back to our hotel.

"Who said anything about being let in?" I winked at her. "We're vampires. We don't need to go through the front door."

We reached Buckingham Palace in an hour, luckily there was not much traffic. I parked the car in our hotel though and we walked across, Ella was lucky that the hotel we picked was opposite the palace. Lexi and I made our way to the only spot we could get in without being seen.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Lexi laughed as we climbed one of the many well-trimmed trees. I laughed too and jumped across onto a balcony. Lexi was always the cautious one, always the one thinking of the consequences whereas Ella was the complete opposite, she did what she liked when she liked and didn't care who caught her, she'd just use her ability and they'd do anything for her anyway. I was sort of in between, I loved Ella's attitude about not caring but at the same time I wasn't an idiot like she could be. She had done some pretty dangerous stuff, especially considering she's only a hybrid and not invincible.

"We're so not dressed to be in a palace," she mumbled as she followed me across.

"It's okay, no one will see us," I laughed.

"You hope," she rolled her eyes and I opened the door to the balcony. This was Henry's room; he was the son of the current king Edward IX and first in line to the throne.

"Where is she?" I groaned.

"Have you been here before?" Lexi's eyes widened as I slumped myself down on Henry large bed. I shrugged.

"How do you think I knew which room?"

"Elizabeth Esther Cullen!" she gasped.

"What?" I laughed. "I only know because I had to find Ella the other day. You were out with your boy," I rolled my eyes.

"It isn't what you think," she told me.

"Sure," I laughed. Ella hadn't been the only one off with a boy during our stay in England. Lexi had found a cute British guy who she kept saying was a friend but I wasn't so sure.

We heard laughing in the hall outside and I shot up to hide behind the door. Lexi copied and we waited for Izellah and the prince to walk in, when they did we jumped out on them. Izellah screamed and Henry gasped and pulled Ella behind him.

"Aw such a gentleman," I giggled.

"How did you get in here?" his eyes widened and closed the door.

"Oh my god you're not allowed to do that!" Ella sighed and came out from behind Henry.

"I wish we'd got that on camera," Lexi laughed. I laughed with her and Ella folded her arms, not looking impressed.

"Come on snow we're going out to eat," I said looping my arm with hers. "We're thirsty," I said making eye contact with her so she knew what I meant. Her eyes were locked on mine and I saw her swallow as if she suddenly realised her throat was burning.

"Yep come on ladies," Lexi said and pulled us towards the window.

"You're not going out the window," Henry gasped. "We're three stories up."

"We'll be fine. Don't worry your little prince head," I grinned at him. "Just because you're not allowed to do dangerous things for the future of the monarchy, _we are_."

"Ella," Henry frowned at her. She walked over to him and kissed him lightly.

"I'll be fine," she said as if she was implying something.

"He knows?!" Lexi glared. Both Henry and Ella looked at her guiltily.

"You told him?" I asked.

"I love him," she shrugged.

"Oh my god," I laughed.

"I don't care what she is," He mentioned.

"Wait until our family hears about this," I giggled infectiously. "Izellah Bianca Neve in love with the future king of England who is perfectly aware that her favourite snack is blue steak."

"What's wrong with that?" Ella frowned.

"Do you want her to become queen when you're king?" I asked him. Henry looked shocked.

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it," he frowned. "I don't want my duties or life to change Ella," he frowned.

"Oh trust me she'd love it. You know what her name means right?" Lexi asked.

"Yeah," he said with a smile to Ella.

"Come on we need to talk," I said and grabbed Ella's arm.

"Hey," she moaned and reached to kiss Henry one last time before we dragged her to the window.

"Ella!" he screamed just as we landed below with a laugh. We looked up to see him watching us. I literally saw the relief in his face when he realised we were okay.

We took off for the edge of the city, laughing as we spoke.

"I'm not sure who is going to kill you but someone is going to disapprove of this," Lexi laughed.

"Royalty in the vampire world and royalty in the human world, Cullen's sure get around don't they?" I giggled.

"Maybe you should marry their son Lexi, and then it can just keep going," I laughed.

"Ew no. Why me? Why not you?" Lexi asked.

"That would be incest, you however it won't be," I reminded her since Lexi was adopted.

"That's true but I'm still not marrying their son." She laughed as we continued to find our way out of the city.

It took us over an hour of moving at human pace to get out of the dense city, then we still had more city to get through but we could run now without getting too much attention.

By the time we got out in the open all we had was mostly deer, there were no mountain lions or exotic animals here to drink from. It beat pig's blood from a bottle any day though. I had been brought up on bottled blood but not the stuff we had to drink here; my parents would bring me back wolf, fox or jaguar.

"Are you okay Lexi?" I asked her, she was breathing deeply despite the fact she didn't need to. She nodded.

"I can smell human scents, im just trying to… separate them," she said, I could smell them too, all around the woods but they were distant, like they had been gone a while. I went over to her and wrapped my arm around her back.

"You're doing great," I told her, resting my forehead on her temple, she smiled but kept her eyes tightly closed.

"Eliza, Lexi," I heard Ella hiss as she dropped a deer. Lexi and I were in a different area of the woods but I could hear clearly what she was doing. Lexi and I immediately stood up from our moment and found Ella. Ella was pointing at something and I realised it was someone in the woods. They weren't human though. Their scent was nothing like I had ever smelt before, it was sickly sweet.

"Hey!" I called out. "Who are you?" I asked. I knew to always announce our surname to fellow vampires. The Cullen's were famous now, beyond famous, everyone knew them and everyone knew they controlled the Volturi. Our name protected us, because of this purpose Ella had started to use the surname Cullen too, this was also so we could all pass as sisters on our travels.

The girl came into view, she had hair just past her shoulders, and it was light brown and fine. Her eyes were brown and familiar and I knew she was a hybrid.

"Hello," the girl smiled at us. She wasn't scared of us, she was enthralled.

"Who are you?" I asked. I was always the 'mouth' of the group. I matured the fastest and fell into the leader role early on. When we explored the island together I knew it the best so I could take them places, and that role just kept with me after we left Brazil. The girl smirked at me, as if she was hiding some big secret.

"I think we have a few things in common," she said to us as she came closer.

"Like what?" I asked her, still cautious of who she was.

"Esther." She said the name with pure devotion. I raised my eyebrows.

"How do you know Esther?" I asked. She laughed; it was an obvious laugh, like I was saying a stupid question.

"Shes my grandmother" she answered. I studied the girl to see if I could find any signs of Esther in her face, mannerisms or physique.

"Oh my god!" Lexi gasped. I caught onto it just as Lexi did. Yes I could see Esther in her, I knew who she was. I also saw Lidiya in her, and Matthew, and Zio and Chantelle.

"What?" Ella asked.

"You're her," Lexi smiled.

"My name is Allesandra Sophia Cullen, I am pleased to make your acquaintance," she giggled wistfully.

"Allesandra?" I asked, I almost felt star struck. The entire family had heard of her resurrection ten years ago but I had yet to meet her or see pictures of her grown up. She smiled at me. "You look a lot like Nessie so I assume you're Elizabeth, you must be the mermaid and you're the same as me, a Luna Bambini hybrid," she said as she looked between us all, she stopped on Izellah.

"Wow," Lexi mumbled in awe, "sorry I thought you'd still be a child, of course you're not," she laughed, Allesandra smiled at her like a teacher would smile politely at a student.

"I'm older than you by seventy years," she winked. "But yeah I grew up," she laughed. "Dying didn't make me forever immortal as a seven year old," she said with a grin, she was talking about her death like it was last night's meal. Ordinary.

"So why are you here?" I asked I realised how rude it was but the last thing I was expecting to find in the forests of England was Allesandra Cullen.

"I came back to visit family with Avia," she mentioned. I had heard that the Cullen Volturi were in the process of moving the Volturi to America. It had always been an option and after they brought back Allesandra a decade ago they started to make the plans. Allesandra had wanted to stay in Italy but once she was grown they started to move across. Zio and Chanti had been there for a year but Matthew, Lidiya and their children were still tying things up in Italy as Zio set things up in the US.

"I'm surprised your dad even let you come here, I heard he was protective before you died, I can't imagine what he's like now," Ella mentioned.

"_Insanely_ protective. I didn't come alone, Avia has been in Italy for the past year, and we're best friends. There are also them," she said then pointed at the two men and a woman in the tree line, I hadn't noticed them before. "I'm more immortal now than I've ever been but he still won't let go," she said with a shrug.

"How do you mean?" I asked and Allesandra went over to some fallen wood. She set it alight with only her mind before she put her hand through it and kept it there, not even flinching.

"You don't feel pain?" Lexi asked.

"I don't die, especially not to fire; I can control it and I'm immune. I'm immune to everything. Even my father's ability. Which is why I still remember burning alive when I was seven. Even my grandmother Esther can't get in my head, her powers don't work on me. Nothing does"

"Nothing? Can't you be like… dismembered?" I asked with a frown, I didn't like the thought. She pointed at me and I wasn't sure what she was doing.

"Pull my finger, try and pull it off," she laughed.

"Er no thanks," I said awkwardly. But I did lift my hand, I used my ability to try and throw her backwards but as soon as the tip of her finger touched my hand nothing happened.

"You wouldn't be able to anyway. The strongest vampire in the world couldn't dismember me. I'm invincible, call it penance for dying so young. I'm like my grandmother now, Esther can't be burned or dismembered, neither can I." she said dramatically but she was clearly not impressed by it.

"Isn't that good?" I asked.

"Sure, except my father is still paranoid about losing me. I love him, I do. He is everything to me but sometimes he drives me insane you know?" she asked waving her hand over the growing fire, it went out immediately.

"Yeah I know," I laughed with her. She changed the subject suddenly, I started to realise how abrupt she was, or just had a short attention span and got bored quickly.

"So I hear we share a name?" she smiled at Lexi, Lexi smiled slightly.

"I was told your story as a child and I saw how much it affected our family, I took the name Alexandra to honour you. I never thought you'd come back. You're _the_ Alexandra Cullen not me." She said with a small laugh, Allesandra smiled back.

"Don't worry," she laughed. "I don't go by Alexandra anyway; even my family calls me Allesandra now. My nick name is Alle."

"Oh good," Lexi sighed.

"Besides, I'm touched… thanks," she said and grinned at her. Allesandra had a strange aura of royalty; I got the same feeling around Ella's prince. It was like she was famous and had been her whole life. She was used to it and the feeling of people bowing down to her every need. Well I suppose she _was_ famous now. Word had spread after her resurrection, you can't kill a Cullen. They'll just come back. We were more feared and respected than ever.

"So what do you girls do for fun?" she asked.

"Ella has a boyfriend, Lexi and I have mostly been exploring," I answered her.

"Wanna show me around London? Avia is supposed to be doing it but she's gone to see her sister, she told me to look around whilst she was gone," she asked.

"Sure!" Lexi grinned and Allesandra called over her personal guards. She spoke to them in perfect Italian and they nodded before walking towards the tree line.

"Sorry, they have to come with us," she said with a small regretful smile.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to people following me," Ella laughed. Allesandra linked her arm with Lexi and Ella's and Lexi linked hers with mine.

"Why do you say that?" she laughed.

"I'm dating the future king of England. He has guards all the time too."

"What does our family say about that? I got specifically told to avoid the royal family," Alle laughed.

"They don't know," I sniggered.

"The Cullen's don't judge, It doesn't matter who we love, they'll always accept them. No matter what," Ella said strongly.

"You hope," Alle giggled. Allesandra had only been with us a few minutes and she already felt like a friend to us, she fitted in well.

"My dad fell in love with a human, my sister fell in love with a wolf, Chantelle fell in love with the son of their worst enemy and Matthew fell in love with Death. I think we can safely say that the Cullen's are extremely accepting," I agreed with Ella, I only teased her about her relationship with the prince; I knew it truly meant something to her.

"See," Ella smiled across at me. "Thanks Beth," she grinned. I rolled my eyes at the name. I rarely got called Beth anymore, it was my childhood name and I didn't mind my family calling me it but publically I was Eliza now. I wanted a new start and a change when we left Isle Isabella. Isle Isabella was extremely special to me and it would always be my home. Leaving was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I knew that island better than anything in this world; I knew every rock, every beach, every animal and every tree. I knew where the animals slept and where the rain fell the hardest. I knew where the sun shone the brightest and where every cave and nest was. It was my home and always would be, it was where I grew up and I loved it. I always wanted to explore the world, see the places my father taught me about, know my distant family members and visit the Volturi but when the day came it was hard for me. Stepping off the boat into the big unknown world scared me, because I didn't want it to change me. I didn't want Beth to become an adult; I didn't want her to lose her innocence or her love for her island so I changed my name. Beth is the island girl, the one that loves feeling the sand beneath her toes and running bare foot up the cliffs, Eliza was a new, curious girl, someone I couldn't wait to be.

"So do you miss home?" she asked us all.

"Not really," Ella laughed, of course she wouldn't. She had Henry now.

"Sometimes," Lexi said but I knew although Lexi loved our island, it reminded her of her previous life, her siblings and her birth father. She was happy to get away from it and explore the world.

"Always," I answered with a small smile. "But I love what we're doing here."

"And what are you doing here?" Allesandra asked.

I thought about that question for a moment to myself.

What had we accomplished since leaving home?

Ella had found love, Lexi had learnt to control her craving for blood but what did I do?

I made memories that would last forever.

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**This was just a bit of fluff really, I really wanted just to write a small something to show you how much the girls had grown after Living in Paradise and how they had grown into their personalities.**

**Pictures of the girls grown up plus Prince Henry are on my blog :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**BellaNessieCullen. Blogspot. com (remove spaces)**


	2. Frozen Heart

**All her life Allesandra Cullen has been protected, even more so now she came back from the dead. She's more powerful than any of the current guard members and yet her father still won't let her help or be a part of the Volturi business. What happens when Matthew comes across someone that even he doesn't stand a chance against? Matthew decides to give Allesandra a chance, after all the only thing that can melt ice is fire.**

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**If you haven't already read The Story of Allesandra Cullen, the last chapter of Living in Paradise or the first chapter of this story read them first.**

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**Allesandra Cullen**

**Chicago, USA. 2145.**

"Allesandra, bambino, I need your help." My father told me as he entered my room.

"With business?" I asked astounded, he was in his robes but my father never asked for my help... ever, he was determined to keep me out of Volturi business at all costs.

"What's wrong papa?" I asked

"I need your... expertise," he said and held out a jet black cloak with red highlights. Only a few guard members got to wear these, most guard members were in ordinary black or grey cloaks. The only ones that wore red were the three leaders. My father, brother and grandfather and the most crucial guard when they were needed, my mother and her twin sister, my grandmother Chantelle and my grandmother Esther as well as Ariella and my aunt Lizzy wore jet black with red highlights. Although Ariella was only close guard because of her friendship with my father, her ability was no longer needed as much since my grandmother Esther had copied her ability to boost others, we only use Ariella when we need to get around more than one person to boost or when Esther is away. She was a constant in my father's life and his personal 'booster' and he would never demote her because he loved her so much.

I pulled the cloak on, feeling a bounce in my step as we left my room. What could possibly be happening that my father would so desperately need me?

"What's going on?" I asked as we made our way out of the mansion, we weren't even going to court, which meant my father was risking an excursion, something he never did without my grandmother Esther for protection. I knew my grandmother Esther was not here, she was away with my grandfather Aleksander.

"We need to run, are you up for it tesoro?"

"Of course," I grinned and we started running. My father was with three bulk guards as I called them, they were just huge and strong for protection and Ariella. What could possibly going on that my father would need me?

"Allesandra, I have brought you with us today because I think you will be very interested in who we are about to meet." My father began to explain. "And we need you, this is something I've never encountered and you are the only person I could think of other than Esther that stands a chance."

"Stands a chance?" I asked sceptically, "against what?" I asked but my father didn't answer he stopped running, we were now way out of Chicago where we lived, we were south, in Louisiana somewhere, "Why are we here?" I asked but my question was answered when I saw the house in front of us. It was covered in ice... We were in the middle of Louisiana and it was sub 40 degrees.

"What is going on?" I asked my father.

"We have received word of unusual snow storms in Louisiana and we decided to check it out. Someone has the ability to manifest ice and they're not trying to hide it." He said eyeing me carefully.

"And what? You want me to melt the ice?" I asked

"I want you to control him, yes, if he tries anything you are our best protection." He said proudly.

"Okay," I smiled confidently.

"I enter first." He said and began walking towards the door. My father kicked the door open and we entered the house. Inside was a man standing in the room as we entered.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked threatening, I could see his hand was out stretched to us and I started to feel extremely cold,

"Allesandra," my father barely managed to say. I quickly realised what the man was doing and started to heat my father and the guard back to body temperature. The man's eyes shot to me and glared deeper, I could feel my hands freezing as he stared at me, his hand was outstretched towards me. I quickly heated my hands back up, melting the ice already forming on my fingers, it dripped off and the man snarled, I lifted my hand and concentrated on his, doing the same thing to him, this time heating him up. He growled as he too reversed my ability by cooling himself down

"You want to play fire girl?" He asked teasingly. I grinned back.

This would be fun.

"Enough!" My father shouted. "My name is Matthew Cullen; don't pretend like you don't know who I am." He roared. The man halted in his attack on me and turned to my father.

"I know who you are," he growled

"Then stop attacking my daughter!" He growled back, the man looked shocked as he turned to me.

"Princess Allesandra... My apologies," he said with a bow of his head. I smiled slightly and took a step back to stand by my father, I felt Ariella's hand on mine, I turned to smile at her, she was asking if I was okay, I just nodded to her and turned back to the man.

"What is your name?" My father asked.

"Ryker Storm," the man responded, as he spoke to my father he kept looking over to me and I could feel his ability around me, it was only light but he was sending shivers up my spine and through my fingers, it didn't hurt though. It was like he was teasing with me. It was barely noticeable but I was extremely aware of temperatures.

"Ryker, do you understand why we are here?" He asked

"To give me practice?" He grinned at me, I rolled my eyes.

"No. You have been revealing yourself to humans. You have been conspicuous with your ability, you are out control," my father declared. I disagreed; I thought he was very much in control actually. He wouldn't be able to do what he was doing to me so well if he wasn't in control. He was teasing me without hurting me. I sent a wave of heat through his back and he gasped in response but laughed and grinned at me. He was flirting with me... This was very strange but I couldn't help but smile back.

"I am not out of control, I just don't like to hide." He shrugged.

"You are residing in a state that rarely sees snow; you could at least be decent enough to move north,"

"I like the heat," he said and winked at me. I was sure I blushed.

"Then you must come back with us to Chicago for a few days." My father announced and motioned for the door.

"I'm not going anywhere," he snarled.

"If you do not come willingly I will bring you by force. I need you to meet with a certain guard member of mine," my father announced.

"You'll have to force me," he snarled. My father didn't look impressed, he motioned for the three bulk guards to go forward but they barely took a step before they were frozen in ice. Ryker was snarling and aimed towards my father this time; I counteracted him and melted the ice before it reached him. He turned to me, all flirting gone and took me off guard. Suddenly I couldn't move. I could only see what was in front of me and it was blurry like I was seeing through deformed glass.

"Allesandra!" I heard my father screaming but it was muffled. I was frozen; he had frozen me in ice…

It was like fuel to my anger. If he wanted to see my wrath he would. I was angry. Suddenly extremely angry. Never piss off a girl with pyrokinesis. I felt myself heat up, the ice falling away and becoming thinner. I saw Ariella boosting my father and I wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do. Make him forget he could control ice? I was already free of the ice and quickly worked at melting the guard members.

"Father, I can handle this," I told him. He looked at me astonished. Ryker laughed at me slightly.

"Took you longer than I expected to get out of that," he teased, I glared at him, not finding this amusing at all and began setting the furniture around us on fire just to make a point.

"You think you can scare me little girl?" he asked.

"What happened to your apologies?" I glared at him. "Remember who I am or I will make you," I threatened him. Word had spread after my resurrection, everyone in the world knew me and that I was immortal, truly immortal. I couldn't be killed but not many knew about my pyrokinesis. They didn't realise what strong affinity I had for fire. My father had kept that out of the rumours he spread around our world. If people knew how powerful I was and that I could burn a vampire on the spot I would be kidnapped and brainwashed without a doubt. My father acknowledged how powerful I was and that I would need protecting but it was like he was second guessing me, he didn't realise that I would never let anyone take me if I didn't want them too. I began melting the ice around Ryker just as fast as he was forming it. We were almost dancing as we circled each other, I was burning and he was freezing, both of us halting the others progress.

"You threatened me. I'm not going down without a fight. I don't care how immortal you are." He replied to me. I shot heat right up his arm and he gasped in response, collapsing to the floor in pain but his hand quickly cooled down and he stood again.

"We are not trying to kill you!" my father sighed, clearly not impressed. "Do I look like Aro?!" he rolled his eyes; Ryker was just about to answer. "Actually don't answer that," my father said before taking a step forward. "Ryker, I only want you to return so we can talk. I'm not going to murder you. I'm not my grandfather. "

"I do not answer to your laws," he replied.

"Of course you do. All vampires do," he announced. "Please Ryker; I give you my word, on my daughter's life. I will not murder you unless you have taken a life. It is not how I do things."

"Have you murdered anyone recently?" I asked him.

"Do you mean to feed?" he asked.

"No, I mean a vampire, have you murdered anyone that is under our protection?" Matthew asked clearly impatient. Ryker had black eyes, he was thirsty and I couldn't tell if he was vegetarian or carnivore but I guess the latter, he had probably murdered a dozen humans, I shivered at the thought.

"No, but I am still not under your law," he announced.

"You are a Child of the Luna Bambini. You are under my law as I have the original on my side. Would you dare stand against Esther?" my father asked. He was a moon pool child? I frowned, I paid closer attention and I stripped back my own heartbeat, Ariella's and my fathers until I could hear his. Ryker head dropped and he shook it slowly in defeat. Just Esther's name brought men and armies to their knees; no one stood a chance against her.

"Like mother?" I asked in a whisper.

"Less powerful, but yes. He's a Child of a Luna Bambini," Ariella told me.

"Whose?" I asked with wide eyes. "Christian?" I asked. I didn't know who else it could be although I highly doubted it looking at Ryker. Christian and Holly didn't have children and he wasn't the cheating type.

"No, someone else." Ariella answered in a whisper. "We didn't know what he was until we met him but your father knows the difference, he's spent decades around Children of the Luna Bambini."

"Will you come with us?" my father asked. Ryker eyed me warily. He knew he wouldn't be able to catch me off guard again. We were an even fight except I would always win in the end because he couldn't kill me. No one could.

"Fine," he grumbled and began walking towards us.

He had surrendered.

We ran back to Chicago with the guards flanking Ryker at all times. I was ready to burn his ass to the ground if he tried to run.

"Call for Chantelle," my father told Ariella as soon as we entered the Volturi mansion. She nodded and disappeared as we entered the throne room. My father walked over to the stage area where the three thrones sat and hoped onto it, he held out his hand for me but I shook my head.

"I'd rather be on even ground so I can act if I have to," I told him and pointed to Ryker. He didn't seem to like the idea of me being below him with the guard but didn't answer. He clapped three times and guard members began lining the walls of the room. The three bulk guards stayed with Ryker and I stood at the bottom of the stage facing Ryker, ready to act.

"Allesandra, what are you doing?" I heard my brother ask, I turned to see him entering the room in his red robe.

"Chantelle and Zio left the castle after us," Ariella said coming into the room. My father sighed.

"Wrong time for a date," he muttered. "Esther then, immediately and send her my deepest apologies but it's important. He needs to be contained and she's our best bet at finding out his parents,"

"What?" Ryker asked, I could feel his power radiating from him in cold snaps. I tried to heat him but he just glared at me. I backed off slightly; as long as he wasn't freezing everyone else I'd let him freeze himself as much as he wanted.

"She's already on her way," my mother announced as she entered the room with my aunt Anelie. Ryker's eyes widened at the sight of the Life and Death twins.

"I thought you weren't killing me," he panicked. I suddenly felt awful for him, he was actually scared now.

"We're not; the twins come and go as they please. They want to see your trial," my father announced.

"Trial?!" I asked with a raised voice. My father promised Ryker he only needed to talk to him, he didn't mention a trial, and he promised he wouldn't kill him!

"Ryker has committed a crime, he has revealed himself to the human world and used his ability unlawfully, and he must be trialled for his crimes and correctly punished Allesandra. You know this," he said eyeing me carefully. I suddenly felt protective of the boy in front of me, he must have been around twenty four physically, he had jet black hair and a small beard, he was well built and tall but he looked extremely vulnerable in this giant hall. I knew how powerful my family was and what they were capable of but I was sure he didn't deserve this.

"What kind of punishment?" I asked him.

"Allesandra," my mother said holding out her hand, she was beckoning me onto the stage.

"No," I glared at her and walked over to Ryker with his head down. "You said you just wanted to talk to him! You said nothing about a trial and punishment! What kind of punishment?" I asked.

"The punishment we see fit," my brother answered, he was glaring at me too, as if to say 'what the hell are you doing?'

"Why do you need Chantelle or Esther? Are you going to do something with his mind?" I asked.

"How else do you think we stop people from repeating their crimes Allesandra? We must protect our world and I have vowed never to kill unless the crime itself is a killing. Since Ryker has not committed such a crime we will make sure he never reveals himself again," my father announced.

"By controlling him?!" I gasped. I had no idea this is what my family did as leaders of the Volturi. I had never been in the throne room or part of a trial. I was kept in the dark, both of my lives I spent behind the curtain, shaded and protected from our world. From this. From seeing what my family were really like.

"It is not controlling him, we are simply taking out an insurance policy," my father tried to explain.

"It's controlling his mind! It's still affecting him in his head. You shouldn't have the right to do that to people!" I yelled at my father. I felt Ryker reaching for my wrist.

"You don't need to protect me. I understand my punishment," he said softly. I was close to him now, standing in front of him like I was trying to protect him from my family on the stage above us. I could see into his eyes. I thought they were black earlier but I could see they were extremely dark brown; he wasn't a carnivore after all. I scanned his eyes, trying to see the fight in him I had seen earlier. The will to live and to keep going but he was giving up. He was going to let my father change his mind.

"What's going on?" I heard my grandmother's voice in the room, suddenly Esther was here and the whole room shifted, Ryker didn't take his eyes off me as I turned. "Allesandra what are you doing with a subject?" she asked seeing me below the stage; she jumped off and down to our level and walked up to me.

"Grandmother, you can't do this. You can't change his mind like that," I begged her. "It's not what we're about, we're supposed to be different to the old Volturi, and we're supposed to be compassionate and forgiving. If you do this, we are no better than Aro," I said and looked directly at my father as I said Aro's name. He didn't even react at the name.

"The last time I forgave someone I was betrayed and my daughter was murdered right in front of me, we've had to adapt Allesandra, you didn't know what it was like after Lucien." My father glared at me, I flinched slightly when he mentioned my death and _his_ name.

"Allesandra, you are too young to understand the ways of the Volturi. You haven't been raised in the business like me. We have to control them somehow, would you rather we kill them like our great grandfather used to?" Ben asked me.

"It's still wrong," I glared.

"I've had enough of this. Get her out of my sight," my father sighed; waving guards towards me. My father's words had me boiling with anger. The second the guards stepped towards me I waved my hand in a circle. I stepped away from Ryker and my grandmother and I was protected by a wall of fire.

"Alexandra!" my father roared. I flinched at my birth name; he _never_ called me that when guards were around.

"Alle," my grandmother whispered and she stepped through the fire without a problem and walked up to me.

"No," I growled but I knew I didn't stand a chance.

"Come on sweetheart," she sighed. "There is no use fighting. It's how your father and grandfather have done things for years." She tried to soothe me.

"It's wrong nonna," I whispered. I rarely called Esther that but when I did she knew I was deadly serious and also upset.

"We will talk about it. I won't do anything until I talk to you okay?" she asked me, I nodded slightly. "But you really need to leave the court. Come on," she said and took my hand and the fire around me died. I kept hold of my grandmother's hand as we walked towards the door. I took a last look at Ryker in the room looking at me.

"Put him in the cells!" my father yelled. He was angry. Really angry but at least he was doing as I asked.

"Alle," my grandmother said softly when we reached my bedroom; she closed the door and sat next to me on my bed. "You have to understand something," she began.

"Grandmother i-"

"Allesandra, listen to me, hear me out please," she begged. I sighed and nodded for her to continue.

"You have to realise that after the war against the old Volturi the vampire world went into turmoil, they didn't know who to trust, ninety percent fell in line and recognised the Cullen's as the new leaders and followed the hybrids as leaders since they had the Cullen's blessing but the remaining ten percent didn't follow the hybrids willingly. The Cullen's were oblivious for this for a long time, they had a few decades of quiet and peace but things started to pick up again after Pancrazio and Chantelle had Sophia. The remaining ten percent realised that Aro's wish for descendants was starting to come true and they planned to correct the line of succession again-"

"I know my father's story grandmother, what's this got to do with wiping minds?" I asked with a sigh.

"Allesandra, listen," she glared; I closed my mouth and watched her, waiting. "The remaining ten percent, led by Lucien went to take the leadership from the hybrids by getting a true claimant to the role, your father. Your father agreed to it and was brought up to lead. He successfully merged the hybrids into his Volturi guard with Lizzy as an equal in leadership and that satisfied about seventy percent of the vampire population but the other thirty percent weren't happy that the Cullen's had been overthrown, they had enjoyed the short years of peace and not having to worry about the Volturi and wanted it back, they feared the name Volturi and didn't want it to threaten the lives they had created after Aro's death. This gave your father a predicament, whilst most viewed him as a Cullen in charge of the Volturi; some just thought he was another Aro so Matthew had a bigger trouble on his hands, proving that he was not Aro but at the same time keeping that ten percent believing he was still a part of Aro and the true claimant to the Volturi. If it had been your grandfather, Pancrazio, I predict nearly all of the vampires would be happy, they knew he was raised as a Cullen but still had Aro in him, the problem with Matthew was they knew he was Cullen blood, but not raised with the morals his father was. Matthew, after meeting your mother changed drastically, he wasn't the leader he was groomed to be, love had softened him and he struggled to be the leader the Volturi expected, it was against his nature to be Aro but at the same time knew that he had a part of him in him, the leadership part and the demeanour. He spent decades earning the trust of the vampires but it wasn't until you were taken from him that he gained the weapon he needed. Your grandfather saved us all; him becoming leader settled the brewing of another war. Everyone fell in line behind him. He was Cullen but Aro. He had the morals and kindness of a Cullen but the leadership and blood of Aro. It settled the vampire world into peace and it's been like that ever since."

"But that doesn't explain why my grandfather started to use you and Chantelle to control those that did break the law," I said to her

"After your death your father was in no state to lead, your parents went into deep depression, whilst they still lived for their family and your brother, they loved you intensely. They could barely move after your death. It sent your father over the edge, he turned brutal. He began killing and was quickly ruining the reputation he had tried so hard to build. Pancrazio took over leadership and sent your mother and father away. Pancrazio had to repair the damage your father had done and he kept Matthew's promise that he would never kill unless the crime itself is murder. It left your grandfather in a predicament, he hadn't grown up as a leader, he had to do a lot of things on instinct and even though he was a natural leader people were malevolently testing him, purposely breaking rules to see what he would do. Pancrazio fell to the one person he trusted most in the world, Chantelle. Chantelle saw how hard it was for your grandfather to lead and agreed to help him. She was already helping him with the guard, she kept most of the guard loyal to them with her ability and now she was controlling the subjects too. If Chantelle hadn't helped Pancrazio out all them years ago there would have been a war Allesandra. It's the way things have to be done, the alternative is killing and violence and fear. You do not want to live in that world, trust me, sweet girl."

I let my grandmothers words sink in; I looked down to my hands as I thought through her story. I understood it now. I did but part of me still hated it, or more importantly, I hated that Ryker was a 'subject'.

"I will let you think over what I've said, the next court is tomorrow morning. Ryker will be held in the dungeons until then. I won't do anything until then okay?" she asked me. I nodded up at her and reached for a hug. She held me in her arms and kissed my hair. "I love you Allesandra," she said in Italian. I smiled as I pulled away.

"Love you too, thank you for explaining," I told her and she kissed my forehead before standing up from my bed and walking over to the door. I smiled at my grandmother one last time before she left my room.

I laid in my bed, not able to sleep, thinking over what my grandmother had said. I would tell her my feelings tomorrow, I would tell her I was okay with it all even if I wasn't particularly okay with it being done to Ryker. I knew my grandmother was only explaining it to me, she wasn't actually asking for my permission, she answered to my father and grandfather, not me. I was just a spoilt brat that needed to be kept out of court probably forever. My father wouldn't trust me again, not after this. My grandmother could already control parts of my ability, she had copied it and was learning it, soon my father would have another copy of me. I wouldn't go to court in the morning, I couldn't see my grandmother altering Ryker but I did want to see him one last time. I wanted to know why he had given up so easy; I refused to believe it was just at the mention of Esther's name.

I climbed out of bed and pulled on my robe, I didn't have to wear a robe around the mansion but I wanted to persuade any guard members I met that I was on official business. I entered the elevator, the only way up to the top floor where my family lived and down to the ground floor. I took the stairs to the basement where the vampire proof dungeons were. There were two guards standing on the inside of the door.

"Go on a walk for ten minutes," I told them, only Ryker was in the cells, there was no one else left to worry about.

"Your father said that we must remain here," one of the guards said. I sighed.

"Can you at least stand on the other side of the door?" I asked them, they looked between each other for a moment before nodding and leaving me in the dungeons. I made my way through the corridor, checking the cells either side of me, when I reached the end I saw Ryker sitting on the makeshift bed with his head down. Most of the cells had nothing in them but there were four cells with beds and toilets for hybrids or other supernatural beings that got out of control.

I stood at the door for a moment, just looking at him. He looked defeated but as far as I could tell he wasn't hurt.

"Hey," he whispered, lifting his head to look at me.

"Hi," I smiled as I grabbed the bars in front of me. "I'm sorry you have to be here," I said. "It's my fault."

"Don't worry about it," he answered. "I'm sorry for freezing you in ice. We're even." He grinned at me, I involuntary smiled back but I quickly dropped my smile.

"Why did you give up?" I asked softly. "You were so ready to fight back at your house, why did you give up and agree to it all?"

"I'm tired," he answered me truthfully.

"Of what?" I asked.

"Of living. I'm done fighting. They can kill me if they want I don't care,"

"Why do you say that?" I asked with a gasp.

"I've lost everyone; I don't have anyone left I care about. I kept going in hope of finding someone but I'm just tired of it now," he answered.

"How old are you?" I asked him, expecting him to be centuries old.

"Fifteen," he laughed. "Not old at all, I know but I already feel like giving up, I grew up alone, a lonely childhood isn't something you forget," he answered.

"You're fifteen?" I gasped.

"Yeah."

"You've barely lived!" I gasped at him. "You can't give up, you're going to let them change your mind and control you. Do you really want that?" I asked him. My grandmother had made me understand why my father did what he did, and I wasn't against it anymore. It was a necessity but I didn't want it to happen to Ryker, I felt protective of him, in a strange way. I didn't want him changed.

"No," he said sadly.

"Allesandra, your father is coming," the guard member urged me.

"I'll get you out I promise," I said to Ryker, his hand briefly came over mine and I felt his ability course through me, it wasn't painful or intended to hurt me. It was in thanks. I smiled at him before running to the door.

"Get to your room now!" my father said as soon as he saw me. I didn't even look at him. I ran from the dungeons and to my bed room. My father was close on my heels though.

"Alexandra Sophia Cullen," he hissed as he entered my room. "What on earth possessed you into going to the dungeons? Dangerous people are kept down there!" he told me. I climbed into my bed.

"Ryker isn't dangerous," I told him with an eye roll.

"Just stay away from him," he told me, he went to kiss me but I turned away and curled into my bed. He didn't say anything else he just walked out my room and I heard the door close behind him. If he was going to treat me like a child I would act like a child.

I fell asleep thinking of a hundred ways to get Ryker out and I needed my best friends here to help me. I knew the girls would be arriving in the USA tomorrow morning so I fell asleep excited. Ella, Lexi and Eliza had become close friends of mine, maybe not as close as I was with Avia but I had fun when I was with them and they wanted to see the new Volturi headquarters so they were on the way here from England, even Ella who was now married to the King of England, she was taking a 'personal' week abroad, her husband was staying in England whilst she had a week with her friends.

I heard my door open and I wasn't sure what time it was, I blinked to see four am on my clock. I gasped when the large shadow came over my sleeping form.

"It's just me," Ryker hissed, his hand was over my mouth so I didn't scream. My ability reacted on its own though and I burnt him involuntary, he yanked his hand away. "Ow," he groaned.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "When someone comes in my room at four in the morning they're gonna get burnt."

"I just came to tell you thank you, for trying to help me and that you'll never see me again,"

"How did you get out?" I gasped.

"My ability is ice remember. Your vampire proof cells only work on a regular vampire, I just froze the bars and they broke with hardly any force," he told me.

"Of course!" I gasped. I could have easily just heated the bars up to get him out. "My father is going to come after you," I told him.

"Hopefully I'll be long gone by then."

"Do you know where you'll go?" I asked him.

"Not yet," he said softly and eyed me carefully. "Thank you again for your help princess, and maybe we'll meet again. When your father doesn't want to control my mind," he said with a smirk.

"I'm coming with you," I told him and jumped from my bed, I grabbed my floor length coat and pulled on my boots.

"You're in your pyjamas!" he gasped. I shrugged.

"I can buy clothes," I told him and I was already out of my bedroom window. He grinned down at me and leapt from my bedroom. We took off running together hand in hand north into the snow covered country of Canada.

When I think about what gave me the impulse to run away from home I couldn't pick one. Was it the fierce yet unexplainable pull I felt towards Ryker and the need to protect him? Or was it the ball of fire inside me that wanted to be free of my father's restraints?

There were noises around us as we ran in silence, each noise I flinched, was my family aware that I left? Were they tracking me right now? Would they find us and kill Ryker? Did I just put him in a million times more danger? Yes I did. My father says he never kills for crimes that aren't murder, but I was an exception to that crime and people knew it. If anything happened to me my father wouldn't hesitate to kill them and I had just run away with a boy I barely knew.

"This was a bad idea," I gasped. We slowed and I flinched again at a sound around us.

"You want to go home." He said as a statement not a question. "I wasn't going to question you but I have been wondering why you want to run away with me," he said with a small smile.

"No I don't want to go home but I just realised how much danger I've put you in by coming with you, I thought I would be protecting you but I'm not, I'm making it worse," I gasped expecting my grandmother to come out of the trees any second having tracked us here. She was faster than us, much much faster almost to the point of teleporting she moved that fast. As I thought about my grandmother I thought about my mother and father who would be begging her to find me and the more I thought about them the more I realised what they'd be going through right now.

I was a terrible person.

"I'm sorry," I choked to Ryker and dropped his hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked, clearly seeing there was something else behind me leaving than fear of his life.

"I'm a horrible person, my parents. They lost me when I was a child. They spent decades without me, grieving over me. Now I'm back they're only trying to protect me, they don't want to lose me again," I said a sob coming out with my words. My grandmother had told me barely twelve hours ago what they went through after my death. I was heartless to put them through that again. I should never have let my anger with my father cloud my view, he loved me; he was just trying to protect me and I had been a bitch about it.

"And you've just left with no goodbye," he said in realisation.

"Come back with me," I begged him.

"Your father will have me killed."

"But I left with you, you didn't kidnap me."

"It looks like I did, it's okay Allesandra, you go home. I'll find you eventually, when you're free I'll come find you." he said his eyes locked with mine.

"Ryker," I gasped when he went to walk away. I grabbed his hand.

"Jonathan. My name is Jonathan. My father was Harvey and my mother Elouise. You can tell your grandmother that. I'm sure she's aware of who my parents were."

"Your parents died centuries ago. You said you were only fifteen," I frowned. I recognised his parents' names.

"No, they faked their death. They had vampires after them in china and witches too. They faked their death and moved to Australia. They lived there for centuries; the only time they came out was because they wanted me. They risked their lives to go to the moon pool to have me and I only got them killed," he said, tears were in his eyes but they didn't overflow.

"What do you mean?" I gasped.

"They died protecting me. A witch was after me, a really powerful one and I only got away because of my parents. You're not the only one with a mark above your head Allesandra, Liana wants me. It was wrong of me to let you come with me. You're a danger to me but I'm a danger to you too," he said.

"I don't believe that," I told him sternly. He tugged me towards him using the hand he was holding and in seconds his lips were on mine. I felt his ability shiver down my spine as we kissed and my hands heated up. He pulled away too soon, a grin on his face.

"I'll find you fire girl, I promise," he said and took off running. I was too stunned to call after him or stop him. I needed to warn him about Esther but he was already gone. I had to persuade my grandmother not to go after him, to let him go free.

I arrived home just in time for the mansion doors being swung open, my father looked angry. Really angry.

"Papa! I'm sorry!" I called as I reached the house. "I came back, I'm sorry," I said as I got closer I saw his wild eyes. I had made a huge mistake running. I knew that now.

"Allesandra," he sighed, he covered his anger with relief and I ran into his arms with full force. Esther was watching me warily.

"Alle!" I heard my best friend's voices. I looked up; it was already morning. Ryker and I had been running for hours.

"Hey!" I called and I hugged them, they all wrapped their arms around me and I was in the protection of my friends. I looked over Lexi's shoulder and saw my mother, she looked… broken, that was the only word to describe her.

"Mama, I'm so sorry," I begged her in Italian. "I didn't mean to cause you any pain, please mama as soon as I realised I came straight back home," I continued, she still looked broken but still as a statue. "Please mama," I sobbed and I fell into her arms, it took her a moment but she hugged me back and sighed into my hair.

"You have no idea what kind of pain you just put your mother and me through! Again Allesandra! We lost you once! You don't have any idea what it was like for us after your death and you brought up all those emotions again. Don't ever do that to your mother again!" my father roared. I flinched at his raised voice, my mother held me tighter and I saw my grandfather Zio put his hand on my father's shoulder.

"She's safe now." He reminded him.

"Go upstairs sweetheart. Stay there with your friends until your father has calmed down," my mother coaxed me and pulled away. She smoothened my hair back slightly and kissed my forehead.

"I'm really sorry mama," I sobbed, seeing her so still, she wasn't angry, she was deafeningly silent. It worried me more than my father's anger.

"Go," she ordered me. I felt Eliza's hand in mine and she pulled me to the elevator. My parents and grandparents were silent until I was out of sight then I heard yelling.

"What got into you?" Eliza hissed at me.

"I wanted to protect him," I frowned at her as we reached my bedroom, the girls followed us in and I sat on my bed with my best friends around me.

"I just didn't want his mind to be changed. He escaped and came to say goodbye to me but I couldn't say goodbye. I wanted him to be safe." I continued.

"Do you love him?" Ella asked. I shrugged.

"I don't think so. I don't know, I just didn't want him hurt, I know I've made it worse. I only realised that after I had left."

"Esther will go after him, you know that don't you? He'll be brought back and trialled for more crimes," Eliza explained.

"I know," I said and dropped my head. "I just need to persuade my grandmother and father he's not a threat."

"How are you going to do that?" Lexi laughed. I shrugged.

"Time is running out, they're talking about it now," Eliza told me reaching for my hand. She was a moon pool child and could easily hear what was going on in the house, Ella and I were only hybrids, and we didn't have that luxury.

"You need to persuade them you love him, even if you don't believe it yourself, persuade them that he is your mate, that you love him and you don't want him to be tracked or harmed." Ella said to me. I turned to look at her in shock, so did Lexi and Eliza.

"What?" I gasped.

"They won't hurt him or change him or even track him if you love him."

"She's right. They'll let him go if he promises that he'll stay here with you," Eliza said to me with a smile.

"Okay!" I said hopeful.

"Wait, Alle, you need to persuade them. Esther can't read your mind but they know you too well. They'll know if you're lying. You really need to believe it yourself." Ella urged me.

"Maybe I do believe it," I shrugged, thinking about his kiss. He had been all I've thought of for the past day and a half.

"Good," Ella smiled and Eliza dropped my hand. I climbed off the bed and went to the door, taking the elevator down and into the 'conference' room. My family were there, all looking upset and angered.

"Please don't hurt him," was the first thing I said.

"Allesandra. This doesn't concern you," my father said softly.

"Yes it does, you can't hurt him or track him down or trial him. He didn't kidnap me; I left on my own accord. He just wants to be free," I explained. I noticed my grandfather Zio and grandmother Chantelle were here now. They must have come home when I went missing.

"He has crimes to answer for Alle," Chantelle told me softly.

"I won't let you change his mind," I told her strongly.

"Alle…" Esther began.

"Listen to me, I understand what you told me last night and I no longer have an issue with how you all run the Volturi but I will not let you change Jonathan's mind," I said strongly.

"Jonathan? Isn't his name Ryker?" Esther asked.

"No, his name is Jonathan and he is the son of Harvey and Elouise, they faked their deaths in the nineteen fifty's and lived in hiding for decades. They had Jonathan fifteen years ago. They died trying to protect him from a witch called Liana. He's been on the run all this time." I explained in a rush.

"Harvey was alive all this time?" Esther asked with a gasp.

"Yes, but he's dead now. I'm sorry," I told her with a small frown. "But Jonathan is alive and he can control his ability just fine," I ranted.

"If he was in hiding from this witch why was he being obvious about his ability?" Zio asked.

"I don't know," I said softly… I hadn't thought about that. I would have to ask him the next time I saw him. If I ever saw him again.

"It doesn't matter, he still needs to be trialled, Esther you will go and retrieve him, if you can't I will call Chloe," my father announced. My grandmother left immediately.

"No!" I gasped. "Please papa," I begged, this was it. I had to persuade them now. "Papa please. I wanted to protect him, I love him. He's my mate," I told him, he scrunched up his face like he looked disgusted.

"Allesandra, are you sure?" Zio asked me.

"Yes I'm sure!" I begged my grandfather. He looked at Matthew who was watching me curiously.

"If she truly loves him then we can't do anything to him Matthew," my mother said softly.

"Agreed. I won't touch him," Chantelle said defiantly. I smiled at my grandmother in thanks.

"Either way, he needs to come back here. He will be trained to control his ability. I won't ask Chantelle or Esther to change his mind Allesandra, if you truly love him it gives him immunity but if he is going to be my son-in-law he needs to control his ability better than he has been."

"Thank you papa!" I squealed and hugged him tightly. He sighed and held me to his chest for a while. I couldn't quite believe I had done it. I had saved him.

It was a few hours before Esther returned with Jonathan. I waited nervously with my friends on the front porch of the mansion.

"Alle, to your room now please. I need to talk to Ry-Jonathan first and I don't want you interfering," my father said. I looked at him worried. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to him," he promised me stroking my hair.

"Come on," Eliza said taking my hand. The girls took me back to my room where we waited… yet again.

An hour later there was a knock on my door. I pulled it open to see Jonathan standing there with a smile on his face. I smiled back and pulled him into my room. My friends went to the door.

"We'll leave you alone for a moment," Eliza said and they left me alone with Jonathan.

"So you really _do_ get your own way," he teased me.

"Hi," I giggled.

"Hello princess."

"Don't call me that," I told him as I hugged him.

"Why not? That's what you are," he said.

"I know, but that's what others call me, out of respect. You don't need to call me that," I told him looking up at his face, he looked down.

"Then don't call me Ryker," he said.

"Deal," I smiled.

"I know what you told your dad. Do you believe it?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"I've only known you two days," I laughed slightly

"Exactly my point." He laughed with me.

"I don't know, I like you. I felt drawn to you the moment we met. My mother and father fell in love the same way. It's not impossible. I don't know what we're going to be, I know you've lost your entire family and you act like you're hard and tough but maybe one day we will be in love, or we will drift apart. Either way as long as you're protected I'm happy," I told him shifting awkwardly away from him. He stepped closer to me.

"I have lost everyone, I thought I had to stop feeling to live but I was wrong. I just had to find the right person to give my love to. I haven't done it in a long time but I will try… for you. Feeling love is strange for me," he answered truthfully. I ran my finger over his jaw and smiled up at him.

"I suppose I'm the one with the work cut out for me," I giggled.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"How do you warm a frozen heart?" I smiled at him and looked up at him through my eyelashes.

"It's already melting," he answered and leant forward until his lips brushed mine with a kiss.

* * *

**Picture and info on Ryker/Jonathan is on my blog.**

**All I'm going to say is remember the name Liana ;)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**BellaNessieCullen. Blogspot. com**


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